CHÂTEAU PICHON LONGUEVILLE BARON
2015 2ème Cru Classé Pauillac
70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot. A deep rich harmonious nose of very ripe black fruit. Big and bold and coal black, with smoky tannins closing in on the finish. This has good length and that's where the class shows. Rating: 93-94 L&S (Apr 2016)
* This is a pre-shipment/primeur offer. All orders are accepted under the TERMS of this offer which differ from the terms of the rest of the site.
The 2015 Pichon Baron has a generous bouquet with blackberry, wild strawberry and cedar scents on the nose. This is very pure and the oak is well integrated. The palate is medium-bodied with saturated tannins that lend it a fleshy, silky texture. This is countered by a silver bead of acidity and impressive mineralité on the finish. Fantastic. Tasted blind at the 2015 Bordeaux Ten-Year-On tasting. Drinking range: 2027 - 2050 Rating: 95 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Jun 2025)
Plum, damson, cassis and rosebud notes curl out of the glass immediately. The texture deepens and widens through the mid palate, with grilled bacon, cocoa bean, espresso, fig, grilled cedar, dense and concentrated, with a crush of mint leaf on the finish. Love this, a generous wine that resonates through the palate with waves of flavour and a smoky finish. This has the weight and sense of occasion that tells you this is a classified wine in a great vintage, and is one to look out for. 80% new oak, Jean-René Matignon technical director. Drinking range: 2025 - 2050 Rating: 95 Jane Anson, Decanter (Dec 2021)
The 2015 Pichon-Baron has an engaging, complex bouquet of blackberry, cedar, mint and graphite, demonstrating more cohesion and more conviction than its peers. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin and extremely well-judged acidity that imbues this Pauillac with a sense of effortlessness and class lacking in some of its peers. A stunning 2015 and one of the greatest releases from the estate. Tasted blind at the Southwold 2015 Bordeaux tasting. Rating: 97 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Jul 2019)
This is a muscular edition with attractive, deeply ripe blackberries and plums set amid firm and assertively linear tannins that hold the finish long and on point. Cool-fruited finish. There’s great potential here. Drinking range: 2022 - Rating: 95 James Suckling, www.jamessuckling.com (Feb 2018)
A dramatic, sweeping wine, the Pichon-Longueville Baron is even better from bottle than it was from barrel. The 2015 is dense, plush and totally voluptuous as it sweeps across the palate to make its presence known. Nuanced and poised, with seemingly endless layers of nuance, the 2015 is super-impressive. A melange of dark red/purplish fruit, lavender, mint, spice and rose petal builds as this towering, dramatic Pauillac shows off its allure. In 2015, Pichon Baron is endowed with spectacular balance and class. This is quite simply a brilliant showing from the 2015. Drinking range: 2023 - 2045 Rating: 97 Antonio Galloni, www.vinous.com (Feb 2018)
Notably darker than most other 2015s shown at this London Union des Grands Crus tasting. First-growth intensity on the nose. Very sweet – maybe not quite the freshness of some vintages – but definitely first growth in terms of build. Great stuff! Pure pleasure. The first wine I was tempted to drink. Drinking range: 2024 - 2048 Rating: 18+ Jancis Robinson OBE MW - www.JancisRobinson.com (Nov 2017)
One of the best young Pichon-Barons I’ve ever tasted, this is a superb wine that will be worth cellaring as one of the Left Bank reds of the vintage. Serious, compact and concentrated, with sinewy tannins, dense, focused damson, blackcurrant and blueberry fruit, a whiff of tobacco leaf and liquorice and tangy acidity. Drinking range: 2025 - 2035 Rating: 96 Tim Atkin MW, www.timatkin.com (May 2016)
This is 77% Cabernet Sauvignon and 23% Merlot. The alcohol is 13.55%. I find a very pure and perfumed style here, rich in clearly expressed blackcurrant and damson fruit, with fragrant floral elements most reminiscent of violets. It feels very classic and expressive, with a beautiful freshness and tension. The palate feels full, with a moderate texture and substance, elegant but with brooding power. This is very impressive, showing a fabulously ripe and correct structure, laced with notes of cocoa bean and underpinned by dark-chocolate tannins, lifted by its fresh acidity. This is truly superb, and a beacon of excellence within the appellation in this vintage. Rating: 17-18/20 Chris Kissack, www.thewinedoctor.com (Apr 2016)
77% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Merlot. Dark crimson. Much less immediately attractive on the nose than Pichon Lalande. But with real tension and follow through on the palate. Very Pauillac indeed! Muscular. Drinking range: 2025 - 2045 Rating: 17.5++ Jancis Robinson OBE MW - www.JancisRobinson.com (Apr 2016)
Rich, full and very ripe with the Baron vigour and fine tannins bringing lift and depth. A bit massive at the moment it but will firm up and show complexity with age. Drinking range: 2021 - 2035 Rating: 93 Steven Spurrier (Apr 2016)
The 2015 Pichon Baron is a blend of 77% Cabernet Sauvignon and 23% Merlot picked between 18 September until 9 October. Apparently Christian Seely made use of four additional 80-hectolitre wooden vats that augmented his stainless steel vessels. It has a very pure bouquet with lifted blackcurrant, blueberry and graphite aromas, beautifully delineated, the oak seamlessly embroidered with the fruit. The palate is medium-bodied with very fine tannin. This is disarmingly and utterly harmonious with a startling mineral core. Possibly the most sensual Pichon Baron that I have tasted at this nascent juncture, it gently unfolds in the mouth and leaves with an enormously persistent finish that leaves the senses tingling. If you want to know whether this 2015 is up there with the 2009 or 2010, the answer is unquestionably yes. Drinking range: 2022 - 2050 Rating: 96-98 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Apr 2016)
A wine of total seduction, the 2015 Pichon-Longueville Baron possesses exceptional richness, power and intensity, all in the suave, inviting style of the year. Silky, voluptuous and creamy, the 2015 is totally spherical on the palate. This is an undeniably charming Pichon-Baron that should drink beautifully for several decades. Hints of lavender, mint, violet and crème de cassis add the closing shades of nuance in this seamless, racy Pauillac. Rating: 93-96 Antonio Galloni, www.vinous.com (Apr 2016)
Very solid and muscular Pichon Baron with ripe and velvety tannins. Full and very rich with balance of ripe fruit that deliver blackberry, walnut and spice. Warm and ripe yet finishes cool and sassy. Rating: 96-97 James Suckling, www.jamessuckling.com (Apr 2016)
Really packed, with very energetic blackberry, black currant and plum fruit, pushed by anise and sweet spice and rumbling through the broad, iron-edged finish. Shows lots of heft, but the impression is fresh, and this is built for the long haul. Impressive. Rating: 93—96 James Molesworth, The Wine Spectator (Apr 2016)
Château Pichon Longueville Baron
Pauillac Deuxième cru 1855 Facing Château Latour across the road, at the southern end of Pauillac, are the twin Château Pichons. Originally one estate, the two were divided in 1850 on the death of Joseph Pichon. His daughters inherited the portion that became Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande, whilst his son Raoul inherited the title of Baron de Longueville and the vineyards of Château Pichon Longueville Baron de Longueville (usually more conveniently referred to as Pichon Baron). The two estates continued to be run as a single vineyard for another ten years, allowing them jointly to be awarded 2nd Growth status in 1855. Raoul built the present château in 1851 on his half of Pichon. At Raoul's death in 1860, the split was formalised and the two Pichons went their relatively seperate ways. By the time AXA Millésimes bought Pichon Baron in 1987, it had fallen a long way behind its sibling neighbour and was in dire need of investment. Investment has been forthcoming from AXA, and expertise from the involvement of Jean-Michel Cazes (of Château Lynch Bages) and, once again, the two Pichons can be seen on a par with one another. There are 73ha of vineyard at Pichon Baron, planted to 70% Cabernet Sauvignon 25% Merlot and 5% Cabernet Franc. Since the installation of the new chais, grapes are fermented in temperature-controlled stainless-steel before spending 18 months in oak (70% new, 30% one year old). The AXA take-over also saw the introduction of a second wine - Les Tourelles de Longueville - in order to tighten up the selection for the grand vin. Inevitably, there is the temptation to compare the two Pichons. With a slightly higher proportion of Cabernet Sauvignon in the cuvée, the Baron is a little more structured and masculine, dare one say offering a little of the feel of its illustrious neighbour Château Latour.
Please make sure that you have read the terms of this offer which are different from those of the main website. If you are unclear as to what is involved in primeur purchases please do call us, but see the 'practical notes' below.
Ordering
Prices are per case as listed 'in bond London'.
Pre-Orders are a firm commitment from you to buy the wines you order on release, subject to the price being below the upper price of the estimated band on our website. You may also set your own upper price limit, lower or higher than ours. Pre-orders will be fulfilled subject to availability. Providing this firm commitment to us effectively gives you priority.
Wines listed on the website (after any pre-orders and allocations have been fulfilled) can be ordered in the usual way via the website order form or by email or telephone 020 7221 1982, always subject to stock remaining.
Confirmation
All orders will be confirmed by email and are contractually binding unless written cancellation is received within seven days of the confirmation date, apart from pre-orders which are binding if the release price is below the top estimate or other price you have set.
Invoices are raised at the In Bond price, excluding any duty and VAT which will become payable at the prevailing rates on arrival of the wine if required duty paid.
Payment is required on sight of invoice, by cash, cheque, debit card or credit transfer. We reserve the right to charge 2% per month on invoices unpaid after 30 days.
Delivery
- Shipment to our bond (LCB Creek Road) and insurance are included in the in bond price.
- Delivery is free to Lea and Sandeman / Elephant storage accounts, both duty paid and in bond.
- Other deliveries (In Bond and Duty Paid) are also free subject to a minimum order from the offer of £1000, orders below this total will be charged £16.50+ VAT when the wine invoices are issued. We will group deliveries and this is a charge for your entire purchases, not a per-case charge.
- Delivery for 2016 Bordeaux primeurs will probably be completed by October 2019, but we make no guarantee as to specific delivery times, and some of the Sauternes may be later.
Practical notes - how it works
We start a sale in each customer's name and add all their primeur orders to one sale which is invoiced at the end of the campaign (or when the customer wishes) for immediate payment. We and our customers find that having a single invoice for the vintage is the simpler option, but do please note that confirmed orders are still binding as above even if the final invoice has not been issued.
When the wine is shipped, unless previously specified we will assume that delivery is to be to bonded storage with Elephant Storage, but in any case, we will contact you requesting any alternative instructions. If you have another bonded delivery address you would like the wine to go to, please tell us at the time of ordering. If the wines are required duty-paid we will issue invoices at the rates prevailing at the time for the excise duty (currently £25.98 per case) and the VAT (currently at 20%) on the total of the wine cost and the duty.
Half-bottles, Magnums and larger bottles.
One of the additional advantages of buying en primeur is being able to order the wine in the bottle size you want. Even if a wine is only listed in one size, you can order any bottle or case size you want if the property supplies it, but you must order the case/bottle size you require and check that the correct size has been invoiced.
Additional charges are as follows:-
- +£15 per case of 24 half-bottles
- +£15 per case of 6 Magnums (2 bottles equivalent, 1.5 litres each)
- +£35 per individually boxed Double Magnum (4 bottles equivalent, 3 litres)
- +£45 per individually boxed Imperial (8 bottles equivalent, 6 litres) for Salmanazars, Balthazars, Nebuchadnezzars and Melchiors please enquire for availability and price.